


magical kingdom.

by kurotsuno



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: 30 Days of Writing, Bullying, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Pet Names, Self-Harm, here's the actual content of chapters! cool, i might do more than one chapter a day?? it depends how i feel, i will carve this entire damn ship myself if i must, scar worship???
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-09 15:19:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16452401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurotsuno/pseuds/kurotsuno
Summary: this is basically just a 30 day challenge that i sure as hell hope i can stick to???





	1. astray.

"Are you sure this is the right way?"

"I'd be _**more**_ sure if you'd _**quit**_ asking me the _**same**_ question every _**five**_ minutes."

As his crimson hair glistens under the scalding radiation, Natsume's already a number of paces ahead of Eichi. It's almost cruel; He knows that it's difficult to keep up sometimes, especially under such a glazed sunlight. Eichi releases a noise, a mixture of a groan and a wheeze, and the speed at which Natsume swerves back to check on him is unfathomable.

" _ **Tell**_ me when I'm going too _**fast**_." 

As the Autumn leaves crunch and crumble under their soles, Natsume finally gives in and retrieves a tattered map from his bag. He unfolds the creases, partially ripping part of one, to which Eichi scowls in response, until he's shot a glare. It's hard for Natsume to swallow his pride and admit he's wrong, but boy, are they far from where they should be.

* * *

 

Eventually, they've arrived someplace, at least. The stars glimmer and twinkle around them, and the clearing ahead overlooks an aurora of city lights. The hues of emerald, aqua, and magenta glow on Eichi's expression, and Natsume can't help but observe in awe. His boyfriend is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. 

Noticing the gaze he's receiving, Eichi's head cocks on his shoulder, into a tilt.

"..is something on my face?"

"No. Not yet, anyway."

The world surrounding them is an array of memorizing sights, but none is more capturing than the tender kiss they share; the one they imprint into their brains. After it breaks softly, they sit themselves on the grass below, hands intertwined.

Getting lost isn't always such a bad thing, Eichi thinks.


	2. royal messenger.

Natsume swirls a mixture in a flask, watching the hue dilute to another shade. He's about to grasp another concoction, when the squeal and crackle of the intercom sends a twinge of annoyance through him. It's another end of the day announcement, he supposes— Actually, even if he's not entirely aware of what hour it is, he's relatively confident that it hasn't been long enough for school to be over yet. Whatever it is, he knows it isn't about him, so he dismisses the current muffle of the system humming to life.

" _ **Darling,**_ could you come to the Student Council room~? Everyone else, please continue with your activities."

He almost fumbles the glass to the ground as he does a quick take, since Eichi's voice echoed from the speaker. He's flushed a disgusting tint of crimson already, and he hasn't even gone to check on what he wanted! Natsume scowls to himself whilst exiting the secret room, not sure if he's fuming from embarrassment or annoyance.

* * *

"You _**can't**_ just call for me like _**that**_!"

Natsume hisses in his tone a bit, and Eichi returns the gesture with an amused grin.

"I'm pretty sure I _can,_ because I just did~."

" _ **Smartass.**_ "

"Interesting choice of pet name, _darling_ ~."

Eichi's voice drips of a sweetness similar to raw honey, and it's taking most of everything in Natsume to not swoon at it. He likes the pet names, yes, but to announce it to the whole world like that was something else. It wasn't as if a large portion of the school didn't know they were dating, but it was certainly something not just Eichi and Natsume, but everyone, had to get accustomed to.

"Come on.. can't you use a real one?"

Eichi whines to Natsume, whose expression is giving in. What does Eichi remind him of? Emperor was an old, much harsher nickname, so he can't use that. The way he usually wears white.. the manner in which his golden blonde hair tossles in just the right places enough to fluff. It's not fair, he's breath-taking, he's—

" _ **Angel.**_ "

The older boy's conniving smirk evaporates, and Natsume's afraid he might have fucked up. That is, until, Eichi's face heats up drastically, and he blinks a few times. _Ba-dum, ba-dum_. He can hear his heartbeat thumping out of his rib-cage, reverbing the sound into his ear-drums. He's trying to calculate the words, the response he should give, but he can't force some witty comeback or sly remark, so he's just honest with himself.

"I love you."

And, in softer response,

"I _**love**_ you too."

 


	3. silver drops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for mentions of self harm/scars in this chapter!

It's guilt wracking. The whole thing is. Eichi's grasping onto Natsume's wrist as he squirms away from the contact. The area mapped of his forearm is littered with stray marks, all dyed a blaring hue of ruby. The younger boy can't even make eye contact with his boyfriend, for the disappointment he _knows_ is pooled in those aqua irises will swallow him whole. His limb is trembling under the harsh glare.

"Natsume.."

He forces a sludgy lump to travel down his esophagus upon his name becoming audible. Natsume can't discern what the tone carries, but assumes the worst.

A squeak escapes him as he feels lips press to the wounds, peppering them with gentle kisses. The sensation stings and blazes each line, but he doesn't even mention that. The gesture alone is enough to coax him. Eichi removes himself, a blotch of blood smeared on his lower lip.

"Next time, tell me before you let things get worse, okay?"

Natsume manages a weak nod as he glances at his boyfriend. The older boy cautiously tucks the stray lock of long hair behind Natsume's earlobe, then noticing how queasy he appears.

"I'm not mad at you, I promise."

He relaxes only a smidge, and Eichi breaths again.

"I just want to help you."

He traverses to Natsume's trembling frown, before locking their lips together. It's a gingerly kiss, and Natsume goes relatively limp.

Once Eichi breaks the motion, Natsume scowls, knitting his brows together.

"Tastes like _**blood**_."

"Hopefully you won't have to taste that again."

Natsume knows that's an empty statement, since Eichi, himself, struggles with the lingering presence of blood in his mouth often. They're both disasters, but at least they're each others' disasters.


	4. alstroemeria.

He's anxious. No. ' _ **Anxious**_ ' doesn't begin to properly fathom the disgusting cauldron of emotions coursing through him. Natsume's hand is grasping the pale one that's draining of warmth, and, therefore, life— His boyfriend's.

Eichi goes to the hospital often. Well, not as often as he once had, but it happened occasionally enough to where Natsume had grown fairly accustomed to it. It made him ill, the fact that he was used to seeing Eichi implanted with numerous machines pumping life into his shell of a body.

"This time, I don't know if there's anything we can do for him."

Those words stung in his eyes, in his heart, in his very being. He was ready to funnel any and all money he had— not that it mattered, since he was far less wealthy than Eichi, but it was the sentiment that counted. Or, perhaps, he was just convincing himself it was.

His teeth grind harshly against each other as the hum of the heart-monitor drone the silence of the room. His body's shaped to the imprint of the plastic chair, even if he's hardly sitting upon it, arched far forwards.

Eichi's expression reflects peacefulness, and that would almost ease Natsume, if not for the twitch of his lips and knit of his brows, as if he was in pain, that would occur every handful of minutes. He just wants his boyfriend to jolt up, maybe chuckle at him for being so worried, and tease him for it. He doesn't want this. He doesn't want to be clutching onto the last flicker of life, it's radiance slowly chilling away.

And then he flatlines, and Natsume's heart sinks past his stomach, and evacuates his body, leaving the terrible pit in him to writhe.

* * *

He awakes in a horrid cold sweat, uneven breaths hitching whilst his eyes pry themselves open forcefully. Eichi's glancing down at him with a mixture of dread and confusion as he meets the gaze.

Natsume's mouth gapes, but not a word will fall out; not even a single whimper or groan. The older boy combs a hand through Natsume's locks, in an attempt to coax him from whatever nightmare had plagued him.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"You'd _**better**_ not.."

It's an empty promise, as empty as a glass half full, and they're both aware. But, in the short amount of time they have on this earth, that they have together, it's enough to keep them at bay.

An iv pierced into Eichi's palm tangles in the other boy's hair, and he scowls while they both work to remove it without damaging the strands.

"Ah, right, I _**brought**_ you something."

Once they're freed, the younger boy pipes up moments later, causing Eichi to furrow his brows as he ponders what the gift could be.

"You did?"

Natsume nods happily, presenting flowers to him. This isn't the first time he's given him flowers, but Eichi still accepts them just as gratefully as the first time.

Natsume tucks one of the stems into Eichi's golden locks.

"It looks _ **nice**_."

"And it didn't before?"

"Well.."

The younger boy nibbles on the inside of his own cheek.

"Isn't the _**beauty**_ of an item reflected by the _**wearer**_?"

Eichi blinks while the gears of his mind process the statement, before a warm grin threatens him.

* * *

 

A doctor comes by shortly after and alerts them that Eichi is now discharged, and the two may leave at any time they wish. Neither of them hesitate when leaving as soon as they can manage to unhook Eichi from the wires pricking his body.

On the walk back to Eichi's estate, they have to wonder: "Who's comforting who?" And, maybe, having the answer be both of them isn't that strange.

 


	5. your shield.

"Hah, you're not gonna fight back, _pretty boy?!_ "

Some faceless nobody spits on Eichi whilst socking him, until his skin breaks into a repulsing shade of blue. He wants to say something, anything. Maybe he even wants to scream out for help, even if he's entirely confident it's futile. Another fist launches into his gut, and he keels over on impact. A splash of blood rushes to his mouth, and he doesn't know where it came from. Whether it's from his gums, or from his insides, it's probably not that great that it's even present.

"What? Am I not good enough to hear a word from you?!"

His sky blue irises disappear whilst he squeezes his eyes shut tightly, bracing himself for another impact.

A echo of a punch echoes out, but Eichi doesn't feel anything this time. As he wonders if he's going numb to the brutality, a faint 'tch' becomes audible.

"And who are you?"

Upon fluttering his heavy eyelids open once again, he spots a lock of red hair drizzling down a shoulder. Natsume's got the assaulter hooked by their collar. Before the delinquent can respond to his feet levitating from the concrete, Natsume drives his knee from their waist to their gut harshly. This time, it's the nobody writhing in pain.

" _ **Come**_ on, let's—"

Before Eichi can warn Natsume, a switch blade penetrates into his ankle and he releases a hiss through the grit of his teeth. Another swift kick with his unscathed leg, and the younger boy forcefully grapples onto Eichi's hand, yanking him up and along as the two depart from the grinning assaulter.

* * *

 

The walk back from the alleyway to the school is relatively wordless, until Eichi mumbles a 'thank you', causing Natsume to stop entirely. He was dragging along his punctured leg, not having let go of Eichi's hand the whole time.

"You don't _**need**_ to _**thank**_ me."

The blonde precariously raises an eyebrow, then parts his lips to respond, but he's silenced by Natsume continuing.

"Just _**stop**_ doing things you _**know**_ are reckless. It's _**true**_ ; I'll _**always**_ come to your _**rescue**_ if I can, but _**imagine**_ if I hadn't been there that _**time.**_ "

"Natsu—"

"No. _**Remember,**_ there's.."

His gaze shifts for a instant, as if he's begrudged to further clarify.

"You still have _**enemies**_."

As unfortunate and semi-terrifying as it may be, his words are oozing with some amount of honesty. He isn't bringing this up to make Eichi feel worse or isolated; he's recalling this to protect him.

The older boy is calculating what he should say—what he can say in this scenario. Should he dismiss this and chalk it up to a bout of bad luck, or elaborate on what Natsume's concluding happened?

He's noticed during this internal development of a monologue, Natsume's footsteps cease echoing once more.

"Natsume?"

The younger boy tilts on his heels, cocking his head back enough to the point that Eichi can discern something's paining him. He's nibbling on his chapped bottom lip, as if restraining himself from piping up.

Eichi apprehensively releases the hand he's gripping onto, and places the now-free one on his boyfriend's shoulder. A sinking feeling tides within him when he can feel Natsume's skin tense and elasticize upon the gesture.

"I keep wondering if.. you're really going to be alright with me."

The way his speech quirk has entirely evaporated further uneases Eichi.

"Where's this coming from?"

"I.. What if I hadn't been able to do anything back there?"

"But you did."

"But what if I—"

Natsume chokes, causing Eichi to turn him around fully by jostling his arm. It's a bit awkward, but he envelops the other male into a tight hug, to which Natsume nuzzles into any crook of warmth he can detect.

Natsume's always been a rather complex person, who tends to surmount his feelings to himself and isolate what worries he has. Or, even if he ends up discussing them, chalks the whole response received as fruitless. He truly was odd.

The two remain in this fashion for an unprecedented quarter of time.

* * *

 

Whenever they finally part from the affection, a grin dominates the both of their expressions, as they briskly pace back to the school.

After all, Natsume invited Eichi to sleep over tonight. 


End file.
